LRC 595E - Anthropology of Education

Course Description​ - This course will be conducted as a seminar that explores the historical developments and theoretical and methodological bases for the field of anthropology and education. Anthropologists of education have examined the sociocultural contexts of learning in diverse settings and we will analyze the foundational assumptions of these studies. Some of the topics discussed include: the history of anthroplogy and education, the concept of culture in contemporaty schooling, race/ethnicity, social class and the equity gap. language and language ideologies.

Learning Objectives - Describe the relation between anthropology and education. Explain the major approaches used by educational anthropologists and be encouraged to use such theoretical insights and methodological tools to develop your own critiques and contributions to questions related to education and schooling. Recognize and utilize an anthropological perspective to schooling as well as critique these approaches.

Space Matters: Creating an Environment for Cultural Inclusivity

Space matters when it comes to creating an effective learning environment for cultural inclusivity. Several kinds of learning spaces are explored in this paper.

The first space is the physical learning space that teachers and students typically find themselves surrounded by everyday. This physical learning space is going through a dramatic transition as pedagogical changes and globalization take place in classrooms.

The next space is a new type of space that has been growing over the past decade. It is a virtual learning space. There are several ways that learning is being delivered in these virtual spaces from online classrooms to social networks to virtual worlds.

Each of these spaces needs to aware of and sensitive to the cultural diversity that is taking place inside of these environments. The best learning environment is when both the physical and virtual come together into a learning space called blended learning. The blended learning environment can draw from the strengths of both spaces enable teachers and students to collaborate and learn while being sensitive to cultural inclusivity.